Anders Lindback allowed 4 goals on 20 shots for the loss. He had a fairly ugly First Period, but got stronger as the game went on. It's a shame a couple of turnovers in the waning moments turned the comeback bid sour. Again, Lindback wasn't great tonight, but he wasn't the reason the Lightning lost.

I feel absolutely sick. The Lightning were in a tough spot coming into this game having to play Lindback against a team with as much firepower as the Capitals. To see that compounded by losing Gudas partway through this game, on paper, this should have been a bloodbath. So, when the Lightning managed to piece together a 3-3 tie late in the Third Period, I was absolutely ecstatic. And then the future-HOF captain of the team decided to wet the bed at the clutchest moment of the contest making a horrific drop pass turnover 5 feet inside the opposing blueline and compounding it by subsequently failing to get a clear 5 feet inside his own blueline at the other end. Lindback turned in one good save on the ensuing sequence but, my goodness, when you know you have your backup in net that's all the more reason to make sure you make the north-south play with so little time left and a point within sight. People are going to want to lay this at the feet of Lindback and he certainly makes an easy target of himself but I cannot believe #26 did that. That was about as good an effort as the team can probably put together in those circumstances (even outshooting Washington 36-20) and to fail to get the result because of that just hurts. So bad.

Radko Gudas had 1 hit and 1 blocked shot in 6:22 before leaving the game with a lower body injury.

Anders Lindback allowed 2 goals on 14 shots for the win. That was, on balance, a subpar game from Anders. He gave Winnipeg a 5-on-3 that they quickly scored on a delay of game call and he gave up a very soft short side, unscreened wrister on the Jets' other goal. He did make 1-2 key saves in the Third Period when called upon, but nothing about Lindback tonight inspired me to think that if he had faced more than a paltry 14 shots he would've been up to the task. Get well soon, Ben Bishop.

That was a different game, and honestly all 3 wins on this road trip had a distinctly different flavor to them. Tonight's was a game that was very choppy and, eventually, chippy. I'm surprised, given how young they are, that Winnipeg doesn't seem to have the speed/athleticism the Lightning have. So, Winnipeg tried to play a more physical style a la what the Rangers did around New Year's, but they don't really have to chops to pull it off. In the end, there were only two things that made the score respectable for the Jets: Ondrej Pavelec and, sadly, Anders Lindback. Otherwise, the Lightning outshot Winnipeg 33-14 even though this was a game that I wouldn't say had a ton of offensive flow for the Lightning.

I really have to say, there's a bit of a stench floating around that Jets team. When you think of how much enthusiasm was in that building when they got a team back a couple of seasons ago and how it was very subdued tonight, that's a losing, frustrated team that's starting to lose its fans. They're only 6 points out of the Wild Card in the Western Conference, but it really feels like that thing's going sideways there and I could see them being sellers soon.

Radko Gudas was +1 with 2 penalty minutes, 3 hits, and 4 blocked shots in 17:43. It's very hard to criticize anything a defense that only allowed 14 shots on goal did. If you're wondering, Radko will be the next to graduate from prospect status on the website. He needs just 3 more NHL games this season to get there. Panik 5. Sustr 6.

Mark Barberio was +1 with 2 penalty minutes, 1 shot, and 3 blocked shots in 10:18. He took a potentially costly holding call with the game still on the line, but the PK bailed him out.

J.P. Cote had 2 penalty minutes, 2 hits, and 4 blocked shots in 8:17. He also had a desperation play at the opposing blueline to save himself from allowing a breakaway. Artful? No. Effective? Yes.

Nikita Kucherov had a key helper and was +1 with 4 shots and 1 blocked shot in 14:38. He made a very quick, decisive pass on Palat's goal, which was really the momentum changer in this game. The Lightning really seemed to shake out of their slumber offensively after that beautiful tic tac toe play that also included Alex Killorn.

Ben Bishop allowed 1 goal on 1 shot before leaving the game with an apparent hand/arm injury. We dare not speculate on what the injury actually is, although the play looked rather harmless. He reportedly received x-rays and will be re-evaluated tomorrow when the team gets to Winnipeg. I wish there was news to calm the nerves, but none is forthcoming right now. Anders Lindback allowed 4 goals on 25 shots the rest of the way for the defeat. I would hardly call that Lindback's best hockey with Edmonton's game winning goal coming on a goal that Lindback appeared to have stopped and then kicked into his own net.

It's a disappointing effort by the Lightning, and one of the few times this season I think they failed to respect their opponent and lost because they didn't put a full effort in. I can excuse the First Period. The team looked shell shocked after their Vezina candidate left the game abruptly to get x-rays. I'll attribute the lethargic play and turnovers in the opening 20 minutes to that. But, I can't excuse the Third Period. It's like they expected Edmonton to just collapse under their own badness until Lindback decided to spot them the game winning goal. You hope that, A.) The Lightning learn the game gives you nothing for free, and B.) They don't regret failing to get a point or two out of this game in March and April when they're trying to nail down a playoff spot.

J.P. Cote had 2 shots, 1 hit, and 2 blocked shots in 9:58. He handled Edmonton's speed better than I might have anticipated.

J.T. Brown was -1 with 1 shot and 5 hits in 14:13. His line was the Lightning's only active line in the First Period. Unfortunately, Brown hobbled off the ice late in the Third Period. Hopefully his name won't be added to the MASH Unit roster.

Richard Panik had 1 shot and 2 hits in 9:11. I'm beginning to feel like it's a waste of time putting him in the extra forward role. He doesn't seem to be in any flow when he gets opportunities with the puck.

Nikita Kucherov had a wicked 1-timer PP goal but finished -2 with 4 shots and 1 hit in 13:06.

Ben Bishop stopped all 19 shots he faced for the shutout at the beginning of what we might title the 2014 Ben Bishop Shove it Up the Tailpipe of USA Hockey Management Tour. Mind you, he only had to make a couple of good stops all night despite the Lightning spending half of the game on the PK because Calgary is a talentless dumpster fire right now. None the less, enjoy, Brian Burke!

Wow Calgary stinks. Buffalo has the excuse of being young. Edmonton has the excuse of being young and undisciplined from a structure standpoint. Calgary just flat out doesn't have enough talent to compete in this league. Karri Ramo had to stand on his head just to make the night look respectable. The Lightning could have won this game by 8 goals were it not for Ramo, and that's even with taking most of the Third Period off and taking a bunch of penalties. If Bishop faced even a half dozen quality scoring chances in the entire game I'd be shocked. Through the first 4 or so Calgary PP's they only managed 1 shot on goal. I don't know what you take away from tonight's game because it's like a top-10 FBS school playing a FCS team that showed up for a paycheck. The Lightning handled their business in workmanlike fashion and we move on.

At the exact midpoint of the season, the Lightning have 54 points. That puts them on a pace for a 108 point season despite the absence of Steven Stamkos for a large stretch of the season thus far. That's nothing but impressive. The team has clinched no worse than a .500 record on this 4-game road trip and will take the show to Edmonton next.

Radko Gudas had 4 penalty minutes and 1 blocked shot in 17:46. The Lightning might've paid for the penalties against a true NHL-caliber opponent, but Calgary stinks.

Mark Barberio had a helper and was +2 with 2 shots in 10:10. A game as tilted in the Lightning's favor as this one was, from a possession standpoint, automatically favors the strengths in Barberio's game.

Tyler Johnson was +1 with 3 shots and 1 blocked shot in 20:26 and he was 35% on draws. He caught a post 15 seconds into the game.

Palat had 1 goal and 1 assist and was +2 with 1 shot, 3 hits, and 2 blocked shots in 18:57. He whistled a wrist shot from the slot past Ramo's glove for the first goal of the game and whistled a sharp pass backdoor to Kucherov for the tap in for the insurance marker. On a team with a group of high quality rookies, it says something that Palat might be the best of the bunch halfway through the season.

J.P. Cote had 1 hit and 3 blocked shots in 9:43.

J.T. Brown had 1 shot and 2 blocked shots in 14:12. He also caught a post on a turnaround shot in the First Period.

Richard Panik played 9:00. He had one noticeable shift in the Third Period where he set up a play for Thompson off the rush and then drove the net to set a screen and later got a shot from the slot that was blocked.

Nikita Kucherov got the insurance goal and was +1 with 3 shots and 1 hit in 10:08. He also had the near-obligatory breakaway that he failed to score on, which is a feature of nearly every game Kucherov has played in the NHL thus far.

Tonight is the 41st NHL game of the season for Johnson, Palat, and Killorn, so they officially graduate from prospect status on Bolt Prospects. Congratulations to all three. They join Bishop, who technically graduated from overage prospect status in his win over Buffalo on October 8th in a 2013-2014 Bolt Prospects Alumni class which may well grow by another 3 members by the end of the month of January.

Ben Bishop allowed 2 goals on 30 shots for the victory. He was a little iffy on his puck handling tonight, but otherwise had a workmanlike evening in a game where the Lightning didn't force him to have to stand on his head to get the W.

Valterri Filppula and Tyler Johnson were the game's first and second stars.

I would like to think this effort tonight will raise some eyebrows around the NHL. True, Vancouver was without the injured Roberto Luongo, but the Lightning pretty well carried this game from start to finish. They jumped on Vancouver, which appeared unprepared for the Lightning's speed and system, early on, handled what little bit of a surge the Canucks could muster, and eventually cruised through the Third Period to the 4-2 win. Even better, the Lightning's puck movement on the PP was excellent tonight, eventually resulting in the game winning goal by Kucherov.

The Lightning closed out the 4th 10 game segment of the season with 15 points, earning 3 insurance points and giving them 4 total insurance points for the season. Those points may become valuable given how many road games the Lightning will be playing in January.

Tonight's game also put three prospects (Johnson, Killorn, and Palat) one game away from graduating from prospect status here on Bolt Prospects. The trio should cross the finish line Friday against Calgary.

Radko Gudas had a helper and was -1 with 1 shot in 20:19. He had a mistake on the Dalpe goal but got it back assisting on Kucherov's game winner.

Mark Barberio had a helper and 1 shot and 1 blocked shot in 10:11. He got caught stepping up into no-man's land in the neutral zone on Richardson's goal.

Johnson had a goal and was +1 with 3 shots and 1 hit in 20:14. He was also 24% on draws. Vancouver was legitimately unprepared for Tyler Johnson's speed tonight, which resulted in his 2-on-1 tap in goal, a penalty he took on a near breakaway, and a few other dangerous rushes.

Alex Killorn had 1 goal and 1 assist and was +2 with 3 shots, 1 hit, and 1 blocked shot in 17:44. He got his helper leading a nice rush and setting a screen in front driving the net and he got his goal off a deflection. He's just a good complimentary scoring line winger. That's his role and he does it well.

Ondrej Palat had a helper and was +1 with 4 shots and 1 blocked shot in 17:56. He made a nice pass to Johnson for the tap in goal and just flubbed a chance early on for a 1-timer point blank in the slot.